Both will have second chances to qualify next summer, perhaps in pre-Olympic tournaments, but most likely, they are going to be watching from the sideline next summer.

That doesn’t mean that Nowitzki’s play in the EuroBasket and Barea’s showing at the America’s qualifying tournament was a failure.

Far from it.

They both came out of it healthy. That makes the whole summer a major success.

Remember last year, when Roddy Beaubois bungled up his foot and basically lost the whole season because of the injury that has required two surgeries (that we know of).

Nowitzki and Barea both got out of their competitions without complications.

Interestingly, Barea was being his normal self in Argentina. According to a media member who was at the tournament, a reporter from San Antonio, Barea was being heckled by the home crowd in a game against Argentina.

He was being called some unsavory names, apparently. In Spanish, of course.